Original Article by Jodie Tillman.
We all do it. We slather on the sunscreen and think ourselves invincible. But are we putting our trust in the wrong hands? This article from The Seattle Times gives us the latest 'rub' on what's really going into the sunscreens on the market.

Sunscreens sold in the United States are missing some of the latest and
most effective ingredients for blocking the type of ultraviolet rays
associated with premature aging and serious skin cancer.

Few items that beachgoers use are as distinctly American as their
bottles, tubes and cans of sunscreen. But that shouldn’t be a point of
pride, according to a coalition of dermatologists, cancer-research
groups and sunscreen makers.

Sunscreens sold in the United States are missing some of the latest
and most effective ingredients for blocking the type of ultraviolet rays
associated with premature aging and serious skin cancer, says the
Public Access to Sunscreens Coalition (PASS).

Those ingredients, though widely used in Europe and Asia, have been
held up for years at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Federal law
treats sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug, meaning new formulas must
undergo rigorous and costly scrutiny before they hit stores.

The coalition is making a public push for the FDA to get moving. The
centerpiece of its efforts is proposed federal legislation, the
Sunscreen Innovation Act, which would give FDA a timeline for acting on
sunscreen applications.

“Everybody agrees that the process is broken down,” said Wendy Selig,
president of the Melanoma Research Alliance, which is part of the PASS
coalition.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the delays. FDA officials
have cited staffing shortages and a lengthy rule-writing process. In
2002, the agency set up what was intended to be a streamlined process
for sunscreens, allowing officials to approve ingredients if they have
been used for at least five years abroad and have proved effective and
safe.

But no ingredients have been approved through that process. Eight applications are pending, some dating to 2003.

FDA spokeswoman Andrea Fischer said Americans have many effective products from which to choose.

She also pointed out FDA notifications to three applicants this year
that their scientific evidence is lacking. In other countries, sunscreen
is treated as a cosmetic, and the safety data from its use there
doesn’t always meet FDA requirements.

“The FDA recognizes the public-health importance of sunscreen use and
has prioritized reviewing the safety and effectiveness of additional
sunscreen ingredients as quickly as possible given the agency’s
resources,” Fischer said.

The FDA has methods for fast-tracking approvals of drugs for serious
or life-threatening conditions. Selig noted that in the past four years,
there have been at least six new drugs approved for melanoma, the
deadliest skin cancer. But there has not been one new sunscreen
ingredient approved in that time.

“It’s the same agency,” she said.

Dr. James Spencer, a St. Petersburg dermatologist, said U.S.
sunscreens are good at protecting against ultraviolet B rays, which are
primarily responsible for sunburns and can cause skin cancers.
Protection from UVB is what people shop for when they select sunscreen
by its SPF rating.

But he and other dermatologists say U.S. sunscreens have limited
ingredients that filter the deeper-penetrating ultraviolet A rays. UVA
rays, which can pass through window glass, cause premature aging and are
associated with melanoma.

Four of the eight pending applications with the FDA are for
ingredients that fight UVA rays, according to the Environmental Working
Group, a consumer organization that puts out an annual report on
sunscreens.

The best UVA filter in the United States is avobenzone, which is less
effective than several products safely used in Europe for years, said
Dr. Mary Lien, a dermatologist who practices at several Tampa Bay-area
hospitals. Another kind of chemical UVA filters used in the United
States, the benzophenones, have caused allergic reactions in some
people, she added.

Certain physical blockers such as titanium oxide also work against
UVA rays but are impractical for daily use because they deposit a chalky
film that few users except lifeguards will tolerate.

In recent years, the FDA has toughened up labeling standards to help
consumers pick the best “broad spectrum” sunscreens, those that protect
against both UVA and UVB rays. For instance, the agency requires that
sunscreens pass a test before they can be labeled broad-spectrum.
Critics, including the Environmental Working Group, say that test isn’t
stringent enough.

European countries, for instance, require that sunscreens offer UVA
protection that is at least a third as potent as the UVB protection
measured by SPF. The group estimates that half of the 456 U.S.
sunscreens it evaluated this year would be too weak to be sold on the
European market.

So do the weaker U.S. sunscreens result in higher skin-cancer rates
than other countries? Dr. Steven Wang, director of dermatologic surgery
and dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey
and a member of the PASS coalition, said that’s difficult to answer.
That’s partly because so many people, in every country, aren’t using
sunscreen correctly: They don’t reapply it nearly enough, he said, or
they assume any use at all gives them license to bake.